The delays were blamed on the Government Office of the South East (GOSE) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) at Surrey County Council’s local committee meeting in West End on Thursday. Councillors say the two bodies have been too slow in processing common land transfers that would enable the permanent closure of West End’s Church Road and the construction of a roundabout at the Hen and Chickens in Bisley. GOSE claims a final application, following a draft submitted in 2003, for the land transfer relating to Church Road was only received at the end of last month, despite the road’s “temporary” closure, which began two years ago. Cllr Maurice Neighbour, chairman of the local committee, said: “If we had known GOSE were going to take so long in giving permission we wouldn’t have started the experiment in the first place.” Lavinia Sealey, county councillor for Chobham, Bisley and West End, said the closure had been successful in reducing accidents at what had previously been a blackspot. She added: “The pity is that there seems to be this long lapse agreeing to make it a permanent closure. Defra doesn’t have a good reputation for being quick on these things.”